


Cold Hands

by JauntyHako



Category: Supernatural
Genre: A fact that he doesn't know about, Everything is the same except that angels are now ghosts, Fluff, Ghost!AU, Lucifer is Sam's secret ghost boyfriend, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 00:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3188750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JauntyHako/pseuds/JauntyHako
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written to a post on tumblr that postulated that some people's hands are cold because they have secret ghost boyfriends that hold their hands a lot. And that's it, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Hands

**Author's Note:**

> So, I didn't get the idea to this AU by myself. One of the lovely people I follow on tumblr had tags about this Samifer Ghost!Au complete with the whole premise for the fic, aka Sam working with kids and improvising Lucifer as his secret ghost boyfriend. And if I could only - find - these tags again, that would be perfect. Ah, anyway, hope you enjoy :)

 

 

With a huff and a fair bit of concentration, Sam got to his feet under the cheering of thirteen preschoolers, six of them hanging from his stretched arms like monkeys, shouting with joy. They giggled when he flexed his muscles, making a show of carrying them around the playground. The other seven followed him around like an undisciplined honour guard. They waited for a chance to pounce and throw him off balance.

Laughing under his breath Sam set the six little monkeys down, wiggling his right arm a bit when one of them wouldn't let go immediately.

„Sam, can we do the dance again? Please?“ One of them begged, throwing himself quite literally to Sam's feet. A few of the others chimed in.   
„Oh, I don't know.“ Sam said and put his finger on his chin. „I think I have forgotten how the dance goes, so we can't do that …“  
„We can show you!“ came a chorus back. Without waiting for a response they started the dance and accompanying rhyme Sam had taught them. „Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, whack the bad ghost with an iron stick.“ they recited, whacking imaginary ghosts (and in some cases their friends, forcing Sam to intervene) with their iron sticks. „Make a circle out of salt, build myself a ghost-free vault.“ With that they turned around themselves, shaking their iron pokers as if they were saltshakers. What with the latest vengeful ghost attacks in this part of the States Sam had thought it a good idea to teach the children the basics of ghost defense. Most of them already had something made from pure iron, carefully handed out by hunters that had come through prior. For the parents it was just a funny make-believe game. For those who could actually see ghosts and were thus more likely to startle them, it could be life-saving.

He was made to repeat the dance at least another half dozen times, before he finally persuaded the kids to go inside for their afternoon nap. Taking one child by each hand with the rest following close he led them inside.

„Sam?“ the girl to his left, Alex, asked.

„Yeah?“

„Your hands are really cold.“

Sam chuckled at the solemn admission.

„Bad cold?“

Alex appeared to think about it.

„Nah.“ she finally said. But by then Tim to his right had picked up on the conversation.

„My big sister's hands are cold, too. But my Dad's hands are always warm.“ He informed Sam. They had retreated inside, the pillows and blankets all laid out ready to be occupied by thirteen not-at-all-sleepy children and one caretaker who found the idea of afternoon naps increasingly appealing.

„Why do you and Tim's sister have cold hands but other people don't?“ a third child, Lars or Trevor, Sam could never keep them apart, asked.

„Well.“, Sam said while making sure every last kid was safely secured in the blanket nest. „When you have cold hands that means you have a secret ghost boyfriend who holds your hand a lot.“  
„ _You have a secret ghost boyfriend?_ “ Alex wanted to know with fervour. During nap time talking loud was forbidden so she whispered, managing somehow to sound even more intense.

She had a place close to Sam who tended to end up in the middle of a giant cuddle pile of four-year olds who refused to sleep unless he told at least one story. He figured secret ghost boyfriends were better than pg-rated retellings of his latest hunts.

„As a matter of fact, I do.“ He had them hooked already.

„What is he like?“

„What does he look like?“

„What's his name?“

Were only some of the questions raining down on him.

„Alright, alright. Settle back and I'll tell you.“

Within a minute there was dead silence as thirteen children waited for the story of Sam's secret ghost boyfriend. He collected his thoughts and started.

 

„You know how I always travel around with my brother in his car?“

A row of „Yeah's“ and „He's really cool“ and one „I want to have a leather jacket like Dean has but mommy says no.“ followed.

„One time when we were traveling.“ Sam continued. „we heard rumours about a certain ghost. All the people said he was really bad and had done a lot of evil things. They were all so scared of this ghost that they locked him up in a house and threw away the key. And there he stayed for a long, long time and all they ever heard where moans and rattling at night. The ghost has gone mad, the people said and that he's angry. He can never come out of his house or he will break all our things and we won't be safe anymore. Or that's what the people said. They didn't know that the moaning and rattling at night was not the ghost being angry but afraid. He was scared of the dark and he didn't want to be alone so he cried for someone to keep him company. But no one ever came.“

The pitying sounds were plentiful but already softer. Alex used his arm as a pillow and every now and then her eyes slipped close.

„My brother and I thought he was an evil ghost, too. Some people wanted to free him and we tried to stop them.“  
„That was really mean of you.“ Tim threw in.

„I know. But we couldn't do it. The ghost was finally free. We were scared because we believed the stories of him being evil. But he wasn't evil. He said his name was Lucifer and that he wanted to help us save people from bad ghosts.“  
„Lucifer is your secret ghost boyfriend.“ Alex whispered, even in her sleepy state extremely proud of her deduction skills.

_If only_ . Sam thought, realising he had unthinkingly put Lucifer in the role of boyfriend when he really just wanted to tell a naptime story. 

„And he's really nice?“ Lars or Trevor asked.

„Usually.“ Sam said, thinking about the bitchfits Lucifer could throw at times and deciding to forfeit them in this story. „He was very lonely for a very long time. And he knows that some people still think he's evil and that hurts him. Sometimes they call him mean names. But he's always helping, even if people are mean to him. And when Dean and I are having dinner, he's always sitting with us at the table and he talks and talks and talks.“

„What ...“ Alex' questions was interrupted by a yawn. „What does he talk about?“

„Lots of things. Sometimes he talks about the place we're in. He's very old and remembers times when all the towns and cities were not there yet. He also loves ghost stories and he can recite an entire book just from memory.“ _Usually with added commentary about how unrealistic human depictions of the afterlife are_ , Sam thought. „And very rarely, when he's in a good mood, he talks about before the cage. He and his brothers used to have loads of fun together and sometimes they scared people. They made things float here or make noises there but they never ever hurt anybody.“

Sam stopped, realising his audience had collectevily fallen asleep. Relieved he leaned back to catch some shut-eye himself.

 

 

Of course of all his afternoon-nap stories, the one about his secret ghost boyfriend had to be the one to go viral. After the next story the kids wanted to meet Lucifer. Parents were already used to their kids drawing ghosts in all shapes and sizes but now they also had to get used to the fact that said ghosts were more often than not holding hands with Sam.

Some of them gifted their drawings to Sam and he brought them back to the motel, trying to hide them. But of course with two ghosts who could make themselves invisible and liked to spy on people, that failed.

 

„What's this, Sammy? Not getting attached to these diapered monsters, are we?“ Dean asked when Cas held the drawings out to him, demanding explanation. Cas had haunted an empty graveyard far away from human civilisation for centuries, slowly forgetting all about his human life. The memories came back only slowly.

 

„No. I just figured some of them might hold clues as to the ghost we're dealing with here.“

 

„Yeah, sure. Hey, is that supposed to be you?“

 

Lucifer heard the commotion and came over, leaning over Dean's shoulder to inspect the drawing. It was one of Alex' who had a remarkable talent for the arts if not colour theory. He sized Sam up, who felt oddly uncomfortable under Lucifer's scrutinising glare.

 

„I think this is indeed supposed to be Sam. Holding hands with someone else. Or being surgically attached. It's hard to tell.“

 

Sam sighed and sank down on the chair across Dean. He avoided Lucifer's gaze when he explained.

 

„I told them a story about having a secret ghost boyfriend to get them to sleep. And now they're obsessed with him and want to meet him and I don't know how much longer I can cook up excuses. We really gotta find our target fast.“

 

„We're close, but we're gonna need another few days.“ Dean said with Castiel nodding solemnly. He took his duty as Dean's ghost-partner serious to a fault. He also liked the fact of being alone with Dean most of the time. Sam had no idea how ghost-sex worked and he didn't really want to know.

Okay, that was a lie. He _did_ want to know. Just not in connection with his brother and _his_ secret ghost boyfriend.

 

He threw a glance at Lucifer who seemed fully concentrated on the preschoolers renditions of Sam. Art fascinated him, even if it was at the hands of young children. Mostly because it required intense concentration of him to pick up and hold a brush steadily enough to do anything with it. Right now he was so lost in the drawings that he became partially transparent. He had only recently begun bothering with a solid shape, barely distinguishable from a real human. When they freed him he had been nothing but a shadow who had lost all human shape. It took Sam and Lucifer months to reconstruct his ethereal form.

These days Sam could almost always touch him and not have his hand pass right through him. Which was good. Of course. It also opened up new pathways of the imagination. Just how would prolonged touching feel? What would Lucifer taste like if he kissed him?

 

Dean caught his look and grinned. Sam knew then that he was doomed.

 

„Why don't you take Luci along tomorrow? He can be your secret boyfriend for the day, the kids are happy and he won't have to mope around in the motel room the whole day.“

 

„I am not _moping._ “ Lucifer declared with distaste. „However, I am not averse to the idea of accompanying Sam to pre-school. It will be a welcome change in scenery.“

 

 

The children loved Lucifer. They crowded around him, insisting on hearing all the shenanigans he got up to as a ghost. Most of them had never even seen a ghost up close.

And Lucifer loved the kids right back. He patiently listened to their questions and their stories, with an expression of genuine interest on his face. In his lap rested half a dozen dolls, plastic cars and other toys, all entrusted to him with the promise of playing with them later.

„ … and everyone thought you was really bad but you wasn't and now you are friends with lots of people and you are Sam's secret ghost boyfriend and you hold hands a lot and that's why Sam's hands are always cold.“ Alex finished her retelling of Sam's story. Sam caught Lucifer's questioning smile and coughed awkwardly. He hadn't told Lucifer just _how_ specific he had been in his ghost stories.

 

„I see. You seem to be a well informed young lady.“ Lucifer said to Alex' joy.

 

„I remember lots of stuff. Like everything. Yesterday my Mom said that I had to wear the green shirt today but she forgot and I got to wear the one with the bees on it and I remember that, but Mom doesn't.“

 

„How fortunate. That _is_ a dashing shirt you are wearing.“

 

Alex beamed.

 

 

That afternoon it was Lucifer who told them their nap-time story, sitting next to Sam in the cuddle-pile. If there was one thing Lucifer could do, it was spinning a story. The kids laughed at his jokes and gasped at the plot-twists. They demanded two more stories before Sam could finally get them to sleep. He made sure every child was firmly asleep and accounted for, when he felt Lucifer's fingers worming themselves between his.

A ghost's hands _were_ cold, almost uncomfortably so. The warmth seeped out of his skin but he was reluctant to let go.

 

„Luce?“

 

Lucifer shrugged and smiled.

 

„I figured if I posed as your boyfriend for the day I might as well cash in on the benefits.“

 

It drew a chuckle out of Sam who, upon turning around to make himself comfortable, got face to face with Lucifer who had dropped all pretenses of personal space.

 

His lips felt soft and cool like vanilla ice cream. It was a taste Sam never wanted to miss again.

 

And Lucifer, his hands seeking Sam's warmth on his cheeks, his neck and shoulders, seemed on board with that plan.

 


End file.
